


Golden Recovery

by royaltyjunk



Category: Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 08:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13520673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royaltyjunk/pseuds/royaltyjunk
Summary: Somehow, there's a sense of mutual understanding, and shared frustration between them: lady of gold and man of black.





	Golden Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Ideas: I love how USUM has basically ruined my life  
> So I know Guz/Lusa is either a really good ship or a really creepy one in most people's eyes but let's throw that shipping nonsense out the window JUST LET THEM BE FRIENDS DAMN IT
> 
> Also just so you know I alternated playing Guz and Lusa's battle themes with a little bit of Glad's theme on repeat until I finished this fic. This fic was just hard to write in general because Guzma is great but he's literally the leader of a meme team
> 
> Disclaimer: Nah I don't own Pokémon

She beats him again. He's not surprised.

"Guess you're still champ, kiddo."

Moon chuckles. "It was a good battle."

He shrugs, but a sense of pride and joy runs through him, and he tussles her hair. "You're definitely a fighter."

Decidueye caws, and Guzma grins.

"You too, Decidueye. Darn, you almost took out my whole team just by yourself."

Decidueye caws again, a glint of confidence in its eyes. Moon just laughs before realizing something.

"Oh!" she starts, and begins to rummage through her bag. "Before I forget… here."

She hands him an envelope, tied with a ribbon and decorated with his name, written in calligraphy.

"This is for you."

He takes it tentatively, frowning in confusion. "What is it?"

"Guess," she says in response, and he sighs angrily.

"That doesn't help, kiddo."

"You should be able to guess!" she replies huffily. He throws his hands in the air.

"Well, I can't! So help me out here, will ya?"

Moon crosses her arms in mock anger, and then smiles. "It's for our wedding."

He doesn't even need to ask her to clarify. Gladion. Gladion and Moon are finally getting married, after one and a half years of engagement and seven years of dating.

He practically headlocks Moon, and then throws his head back and hollers, "Finally!" Moon bursts into giggles and snorts. Decidueye squawks in terror, but seems to understand Guzma's excitement, because soon it's cawing happily alongside Moon's laughter.

"Guzma!" she manages to get out between laughs, and he lets her go.

"Something up, kiddo?"

"No, it's just…" her face turns serious, and he straightens his own expression, calming the rumbling emotions on him. "I know you're… not everyone's favorite person. So if anything pops, it's okay if you can't - "

"I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world, kiddo," he interrupts as he grins, and he means it from the bottom of his heart.

~ / . / . / ~

"Yo, Lills, I've got the - "

"Guzma?"

He looks up in surprise, coming face to face with a pair of green eyes and tied back golden hair.

"Madam Prez?" he asks, startled. "Aren'tcha supposed to be working?"

"I'm helping Lillie," she responds stiffly. "I hope you don't expect me to sit at my desk all day, filling in paperwork and holding meetings."

"No, but - " he cuts himself off, and shakes his head. Lusamine continues to stare at him. He scratches his neck. "By the way, er… Congrats. On Glad getting engaged, I mean."

"Oh!" Lusamine seems to start, and then blinks. "I… thank you." She dips her head, and when she meets Guzma's gaze again, it's like she's regained her composure, all in one moment. "I look forward to your attendance at the wedding."

"'Course," he replies. "I told the kiddo I wouldn't miss it for a thing in the world. That still holds."

"I see," she murmurs, and doesn't say anything else. He averts his gaze from her.

Guzma can't say Lusamine's a welcome presence to him, and doesn't know how it is the other way. Lusamine is a… strange topic to think about. They might work together now that Guzma often helps Wicke or Lillie with lab work, and is usually sent to deliver messages or check up on Lusamine, but outside of the professional world, there's nothing.

There's no friendship, no concern for each other. Nothing, because the incident from ten years ago still hangs above their heads, threatening them with everything it was and is.

"Are you here on an errand?" Lusamine asks, just barely breaking the tension.

"Yeah. Lills asked me to catch some Wimpod, for research's sake, or somethin' like that." He holds up three Pokéballs for emphasis, and Lusamine nods.

They settle into an uncomfortable silence again. He shifts his feet and tucks his hands into his pockets. Lusamine looks away.

"Madam Prez?" he's asking before he can think it through. "Are ya getting any better?"

"No," she replies, cold and blunt. "And I doubt you are either." She turns to look at him, directing the question right at him. "Are you?"

"I - " he cuts himself off. He doesn't know, now that he's been presented with the question.

"Mother - oh, Mr. Guzma! That was quick!" Lillie's voice rings through the conservatory, and the two adults turn to look at her. Guzma hears a gentle sigh of relief from Lusamine, and closes his eyes.

Truthfully, he feels the same, but doesn't say anything when Lillie begins to rattle on and then directs them in opposite directions.

As Guzma walks away, he wonders if he's really getting better like Lusamine asked.

~ / . / . / ~

The sound of giggling alerts the two adults to some kind of shenanigans occurring, but they share a smile and pretend to keep working.

The door bursts open, and Guzma looks up. Lusamine glances at the doorway.

"Mother!" Lillie calls, and Lusamine stands.

"Lillie," she murmurs, a tone of joy in her voice.

"Hello, Mother," Moon says jokingly as she walks in behind Lillie, and Lusamine lets out a laugh, covering her mouth.

"Oh, Moon, you - "

"What're you messing around here for, Lils, kiddo?" Guzma interrupts, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. "Madam Prez has a lot of work to do, y'know." Still, his smile reveals the truth of his feelings.

"Yes, yes. Give me a second," Moon replies, and darts out of the room. A few moments later, she reappears, dragging someone behind her. Lillie smiles, and Lusamine lets out a gasp. Guzma just stares, astonishment clear on his face.

Gladion sighs, holding his hand over his right eye. "I don't understand the two of you sometimes. You could've at least given Mother a warning. She looks like she's going to have a heart attack."

"No, you just… surprised me," Lusamine replies, resting her hand on her heart. Gladion shifts uncomfortably, and then squawks in surprise as Lusamine barrels into him.

"Mother - " he starts.

"I'm so glad you're back," she murmurs, but only Guzma notices the bitter regret in her words, the utter disappointment in herself. "I know you can handle yourself… but I still worry…"

"Mother…" he whispers, and then wraps his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"You've grown so much," she murmurs. "To think it's only been a year since I last saw you. I missed you so much…"

"...I missed you too," he whispers back, tightening the hug. Lusamine lets out a hearty laugh, and then pulls away. Gladion glances over at Guzma, who holds his gaze.

"Guzma," he says finally. Guzma nods. Gladion walks over slowly, and then pulls him into a hug. Guzma starts, a sense of surprise crackling through him.

"Give a man a warning before ya do that, Glad!" he yelps, but reaches up and ruffles Gladion's hair affectionately. "Jeez, I've never seen ya so willing to give hugs. Kiddo, what'd ya do to him?"

"Nothing!" Moon yelps.

"Everything!" Lillie responds at the same time. "Isn't he different?"

"I'm inclined t'agree with Lills on this one," Guzma states, gesturing to the blonde hugging him tightly.

"Shut up," Gladion mutters, then grunts as Moon swings her arms around him and Guzma. "Moon, get off."

"But Gladion!" she whines, and with a sigh, he lets go of Guzma to embrace Moon.

"What is it?" he asks gruffly, and everyone smiles as Moon laughs brightly at the spreading redness across his cheeks.

"Aren't we having lunch with Hau?" Moon questions.

Gladion takes a deep breath, and then swears in realization. Moon snickers and untangles herself from his grasp before taking his hand in hers.

"We have to go now," she announces in a singsong tone of voice. "Come on, love."

"I told you, don't call me that in public," he grumbles as they leave the room, and then lets loose an ungodly screech upon realizing what he's said. Lillie laughs as she follows them, and leaves Lusamine covering her laughs behind her hand and Guzma chuckling.

There's something hollow to both their actions though, and as soon the trio of young adults is out of earshot, Guzma stops. Lusamine follows suit, and walks back to her seat at her desk, sitting with a hefty sigh.

"Guzma," she finally says. He blinks.

"Need something, Madam Prez?"

She drums her fingers against her desk before laying down the papers in her hand and meeting his gaze. Her pale golden hair is streaked across her cheek, and gives her a haggard appearance.

Somehow, gold still suits her best, he concludes.

"It's hard," she murmurs.

"What is?" he questions, frowning.

"Watching them grow up and realizing how much time you've lost," she responds softly. "Knowing you continue to lose time as you remain stuck in the past."

Her words strike somewhere in Guzma's heart, and feelings of sympathy and agreement sprout in him, wrapping around his heart like the branches of a tree.

"Stuck in the past…and losing time, huh…" Guzma closes his eyes, propping his fists on his waist. "I guess you and I are more alike than I thought, Madam Prez."

Lusamine blinks slowly, her green eyes curious. She opens her mouth to speak, but turns her gaze to the papers in front of her instead. Guzma shifts his attention away from her.

Somehow, there's a sense of mutual understanding, and shared frustration between them: lady of gold and man of black.

~ / . / . / ~

The sound of clicking heels against concrete reaches Golisopod's ears before his, and it lets loose a cry. Whether it's a cry of excitement or alarm, Guzma will never figure out. He never what to expect knows when it comes to Golisopod and Lusamine.

Today, though, it seems to be a cry of excitement, because Golisopod lumbers forward, seeming eager to greet the woman. Guzma follows after his partner.

"Guzma," Lusamine says in greeting, and then rubs Golisopod on the arm, laughing at its purr-like reaction. "Hello, Golisopod. Were you two having some time together?"

It growls, and she sighs.

"I'm sorry, but I need Guzma."

"Ya do?" he asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"It involves Gladion and Lillie," she reveals, and he returns Golisopod to its Pokéball before glancing at her questioningly.

"Whad'ya mean?" He's grown close to those kids - he knows, and so does Lusamine. Maybe that's why she's asking him.

"...I need to apologize to them."

"...Wha?" he asks in surprise after a moment of silence.

"I was terrible to them. They deserve an apology at the very least. And… I'd feel better if someone they trusted was with me."

"They…" he cuts himself off. What he was going to say was a lie. Gladion and Lillie - they haven't quite learned to trust their mother. They care for and love her, of course they do, but trust? That's going a little far.

Lusamine looks at him, and he meets her gaze before nodding.

"I'll go," he confirms. Lusamine lets out a breath.

"Thank you, Guzma. They're in the conservatory."

She gestures for him to follow her, and he does, boarding the elevator with her. She hits the button next to the label with the words "2F: Conservatory". The rails go up, and they fly up, greeted by a glass roof where sun pours in.

Laughter alerts the two adults to Lillie and Gladion's location as soon as they step off the elevator.

With a determined look in her eyes, Lusamine continues to walk forward. Guzma takes a moment to watch her slowly retreating back.

She's like a figure of gold, put on a pedestal by everyone but herself. She deserves better.

He shakes his head and hurries after her.

The siblings come into view, as does the reason for their laughter. Lillie's laughing as she tries to stop a Dedenne from bundling into her hair, and Gladion is pinned to the ground by Silvally, who is affectionately sitting on top of him.

"Get off, you lump!" Gladion is in the middle of yelping. "You're heavy!"

Silvally just licks him on the cheek, and Gladion heaves a great sigh.

"I give up."

"Looks like ya could use some help, Glad," Guzma pipes up. Silvally scrambles off of his trainer and dashes for Guzma. He grins as Silvally runs in circles around him, clambering to play with him.

"Thanks," Gladion says, standing up and brushing himself off. "The big oaf just seems really affectionate today."

"I can tell." Guzma glances down at Gladion's partner, who is clawing at his shins and whimpering. "Alright, alright," he mutters, removing the glasses from his head and tossing them. "Go!"

Silvally darts after them, and Lillie laughs. Guzma glances over.

"Looks like ya managed to get that thing under control," Guzma comments, staring at the Dedenne, now in Lillie's arms.

She laughs. "Somehow. I - " she cuts herself off, her eyes widening as she spots something behind Guzma. Gladion follows her gaze, and purses his lips.

"...Gladion. Lillie," Lusamine murmurs, and Guzma steps aside. She approaches her children.

"Mother," Gladion whispers.

"Is something wrong?" Lillie questions.

"Nothing is wrong. It's just… I need to apologize to you two."

Their faces go blank, and Lusamine continues. Guzma's heart wrenches, and he closes his eyes.

"I was a horrible mother to you. I've tried my best these past few years, but I feel that I am constantly letting you down. And all our lost time together… I truly regret it. So I just want you two to know that… I'm sorry. And that I love you."

Guzma opens his eyes when he hears Lusamine grunt, and sees Lillie, holding back her sobs with her shoulders shaking, with her arms around Lusamine. Gladion envelops them both in an embrace, his eyes closed and his lips curled in a bittersweet smile.

"We forgive you," they tell her at the same time, and Lusamine closes her eyes.

"I don't deserve them," Lusamine murmurs later when her children leave with promises that they forgive her, a bitter look in her eyes. "Not either one of them."

"You do," he responds. "And they deserve you."

Lusamine averts her gaze, her fingers curling tight around her waist. "...I hope I can treat them the way they ought to be treated… and get back that lost time."

"Ya'll do it, Madam Prez. I'm sure of it."

She doesn't say anything, but the look of appreciation on her face is enough for him, and even in his heart - his blackened heart - he believes in the golden light of happiness that he hopes they will soon hold.

~ / . / . / ~

A loud crash ricochets through the room, and Lusamine looks over her shoulder, startled.

"Guzma?" she calls worriedly. She turns her gaze to the ladder where he is supposed to be standing on. It's empty.

He groans, and Lusamine directs her gaze to the floor. He's lying there, rubbing the back of his head. A dull throb of pain echoes through him. "Yo, that hurt…"

Trumbeak lands on his chest, striking a triumphant pose. He sighs.

"Get off o' me, you… thing."

Lusamine laughs softly. "It looks like it likes you."

"I hope it doesn't. I don't need more things tackling me from left and right. Your kids and the kiddo are more than enough."

This time she lets out an undignified snort, and the sound sends Guzma into a laughing fit, scaring off the Trumbeak, who instead perches on Lusamine's outstretched arm.

Guzma sits up, grimacing. "That still hurt."

Lusamine strokes the Trumbeak on the beak before raising her arm. The Pokémon launches off, flying through the open roof and into the sky. She watches it wistfully before reaching into another box, pulling out a Cottonee.

"Madam Prez?" he asks as she places it on the table and turns on the dryer.

"What is it?" she responds, stroking the Cottonee and drying out its wet fluff. It chirps happily.

"Why are ya doing this now?" he questions, gesturing to the room they're in. It's filled with blocks of frozen Pokémon, put in cold sleep, where Lusamine used to keep all her Pokémon for collection. Now, around half of them are empty.

Lusamine purses her lips, tightening her fingers around the handle of the hair dryer. He looks away, realizing from the look in her eyes that he must have overstepped a boundary somewhere.

"Yo, I… uh - "

"I need to," she whispers. "A place like this… holds me back in the past. And… it must help you as well, right?"

Guzma closes his eyes and nods silently. "I s'ppose…"

"Guzma." Her voice makes him open his eyes and look at her. "There's something on your mind, isn't there?"

He meets her green gaze, and then chuckles. "I guess you can see right through me."

"Years together do pay off," she murmurs, gently touching the Cottonee's ear.

His shoulders shake with another laugh before turning to face her. "You used me."

She freezes. He keeps talking.

"I know ya did. And I did nothing to stop it." He watches the Cottonee hop by his feet, heading for the warp panel that leads into Lusamine's room. "I did nothing because ya were the only adult who ever believed in me."

Guzma stares at Lusamine then, who stands with her face turned away from him. She's striking, intimidating, calculating, just like she used to be - the years haven't diminished her one bit. He and his Pokémon have not remained ageless; the struggling must bear their scars, while the calm remain. Perfectly thirty seven, forty one, fifty two.

"Stop," she murmurs suddenly. He starts.

"Wha?"

"I know what you must be thinking," she replies. "It has happened many times before. People stare at me, thinking I haven't been worn down by the years. Thinking I haven't struggled."

She turns, a sour look in her eyes.

"It's such a conceited thought… but it makes sense they'd attach me to that idea."

Guzma stares at her, certain that his face reflects his confusion. It must, because when she looks at him, she turns her gaze away again and begins to speak, this time in a low and soft voice.

"I was conceited, vain, self-absorbed, and so ignorant of it. I thought the only good that could come out of the world was from me - by listening to me, and following me. I…" she swallows. "I used the Ultra Recon Squad. I used the Aether Foundation. I… I used you, Guzma. You knew, but… still, I…"

She shakes her head, and Guzma closes his eyes as she continues to talk.

"I still am. Truly… it's hard to stop being selfish once you've been it before. You get used to getting your way… especially when you get so close to your goal purely by being selfish."

Guzma watches as she squats, stroking a Pikachu before placing it on the ground and letting it hop away. She stands and meets his gaze, a fierce weakness imminent in her eyes.

"It'll be awhile," he murmurs, "before we can get better."

"...Yes," Lusamine agrees softly. "It will. And then we'll have lost more time."

"The cost of recovery," he replies without thinking. Lusamine nods without a second thought.

They both agree, without a word, that recovering and lost time will never go hand in hand, and neither will happiness.

~ / . / . / ~

"Guzma?"

Moon approaches him after a shared dinner in Malie City, when Hau and Lillie had found him wandering Malie Garden in waxing nostalgia and, refusing to let him go, had dragged the unwilling man to Gladion's apartment where Moon and Lusamine had been cooking up a storm.

Of course, them being them, they were more than willing to lay out an extra plate and prepare an extra serving of dinner.

Now, though, the moon glistens overhead as they walk the streets of Malie City. Hau and Lillie stroll side-by-side, Silvally bundled in Lillie's arms and hugged against her chest. It looks around innocently, acting more like a curious Lillipup than a ferocious defeater of Ultra Beasts.

Gladion walks some distance behind them, staring up at the night sky. His eyes seem to reflect the stars.

Lusamine walks behind Guzma, and though Moon is supposed to be with her, she dashes up to Guzma's side.

"What is it, kiddo?" he asks.

"Well… you know that my dad is not coming to the wedding since I have no clue where he is now, and I can't think of anyone else, so… would you walk me down the aisle? For the wedding."

It takes Guzma a moment to process what she's asking, and when he does, he frowns. "Are ya trying to insinuate something here, kiddo?"

"Not like that, Guzma," Moon props one hand on her waist. "It's just… I mean, you've been like a father to me this whole time. To Gladion and I. And I don't really have anyone else to walk me down the aisle."

He crosses his arms, frustration running rampant through him. "Don't ya have other people you could ask? Like Kukui, or Kiawe, or Hala?"

"Kukui refused, I'm not that close to Kiawe, and Hala's old, and I'm not close to him either," Moon replies, rattling off counters to the people he'd suggested. Guzma sighs in defeat.

"I… guess I can do it, but y'know you're going to have some people hounding after ya for this."

"For what? For asking someone who's basically a dad to me to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day?" Moon snorts. "It's nothing."

"No, I - forget it," he mutters. He wants to say it's because people hate him, because people still see him as the leader of Team Skull, because people still call him a bully and a traitor, but the thoughts stay trapped in his mind, and his voice doesn't seem to want to come out of his throat.

"Then it's settled, yeah?" Moon questions. Guzma nods his head in confirmation despite the unease piercing through his veins. Moon grins widely. "Thanks, Dad."

He barks out a laugh. "Heck off, kiddo."

She just throws him a nasty look before jogging away and catching Gladion's eye. He looks over expectantly, and when she nods, he turns to Guzma and offers him a smile.

Guzma smiles back tentatively, watching as Moon says something excitedly. Gladion sighs and touches a hand to the back of his neck, but nods. She pecks him on the cheek and he grumbles something before wrapping his arm around her waist.

Something in Guzma's heart aches then, when Silvally jumps out from Lillie's arms and weaves between their legs, and Gladion breaks into a laugh.

They're happy, unlike him, he realizes, and not for the first time.

"Guzma?" Lusamine's voice breaks him out of his reverie. He turns to meet her gaze.

"Something the matter, Madam Prez?"

"I was just thinking… what an honor it is, to walk the Champion of Alola down the aisle on her wedding day, Guzma. I trust you will talk to Gladion about it? About being his father-in-law, I mean."

Guzma throws back his head and laughs, a tone of agreement in the sound and a sense of recovery in the action. Lusamine joins in moments later, her laugh hidden behind her hand.

In the despair, the darkness of void hope, they both sense that there is finally something to contrast it. Light offering them, the recoverers of polar opposites, a single bit of happiness in the face of everyone else's.

~ / . / . / ~

She calls him to the Altar of the Moone one day. When he arrives, she's there, with both of them by her side.

"How the hell did ya manage that!?" he squawks in terror.

Lusamine smiles as she latches on her helmet. "You forget that I am her soon-to-be mother-in-law. She willingly gave me Nebby."

The Lunala in question lets out a cry, and Lusamine laughs. Guzma gestures to the other Pokémon.

"What 'bout this one then?"

"Soliera gave me control once I pointed out there was no reason to be afraid because Moon caught Necrozma already."

Solgaleo lowers its head, staring at Guzma. He stares back, then flails his arms as Solgaleo lets loose a loud roar that almost knocks him over.

"Catch."

That's the only warning Lusamine gives him before tossing a similar helmet at him. He fumbles before catching it, and puts it on.

"So what's the plan?" Guzma asks. Lusamine glances over, in the middle of her climb onto Nebby.

"We're taking a trip to Ultra Space," she responds.

"Ya serious, Madam Prez!?" he questions incredulously.

"Of course. Now hurry up," she demands as she shifts at her place on Lunala's back. With a hefty sigh, Guzma glances at Solgaleo expectedly, who sits and allows him to clamber on.

Soon, they're jetting through Ultra Space, and Guzma hollers, "This ain't what I remember the trip being like!"

"We got the easy way out last time," Lusamine replies calmly, directing Lunala to avoid an orange wormhole. "This time, we have to find a wormhole to go into. Also, in case you were wondering, this is what Moon does in her spare time."

"This is terrifying!" he yelps before telling Solgaleo to follow Lunala. "I can't believe the kiddo does this!"

When Lusamine doesn't give an answer, he turns to see her flying into a blue wormhole. He orders Solgaleo to follow, and they arrive atop a cliff, in a world where the sky is blue and the grass is green.

"I expected the sky to be red and the ground to be purple," Guzma comments as he hops off of Solgaleo's back, and Lusamine laughs.

"There are many worlds in Ultra Space like ours, according to Moon," she informs. He raises his eyebrows, but doesn't say anything else. She waves him closer to where she's standing atop the cliff.

He walks to her side, and stares out over the cliff, at the world below it. It looks so much like theirs, he realizes in a heartbeat.

"Weren't we inconsiderate?" she murmurs, and he doesn't need to ask. That incident, ten - going on eleven - years, with Necrozma. She's finally talking about it. He stares out at the other world.

"...Yeah," he agrees. "We didn't think 'bout Glad or Lills. We didn't think 'bout the Ultra Recon Squad. We didn't think 'bout anything other than catching Necrozma."

"And that became our downfall," Lusamine states, and then turns to him. "But… are we still really falling now?"

He meets her gaze, and says plainly, "Nah."

Her face relaxes then, into a genuine and gentle smile. "It seems we are both on that seemingly distant road to recovery. I suppose we should thank Necrozma for that."

Her heels click as she walks away, toward the wormhole that leads home.

The weight on their shoulders has been lifted, he realizes. The incident doesn't hang over their heads, oppressive and tense. It's out there, and they've chosen to put it behind them in order to recover. To make up for lost time, for happiness.

"Come, Guzma," Lusamine smiles gently over her shoulder. "We have a wedding to get ready for."

"Will do, Madam Prez," he replies, grinning back as he saunters after her.

They are the lady of gold and the man of black. Polar opposites, reaching for the same thing. Reaching to live out that time they had lost, reaching to recovery, reaching to something that would be their happiness.


End file.
